RESCUE MISSION

Help for woman who really needed it

A mother’s black mould nightmare has led to soldiers rallying to build her a new bathroom.

After buying a home in Shannon to be near her dying father, Debbie Liddell began having respiratory problems.

In July last year her lung collapsed and she was rushed to hospital, where she was also treated for blocked sinuses and flu.

Discharged in a wheelchair 10 days later, she followed a friend’s suggestion to call a plumber to check her house for leaks.

Two were found and the bath lining opened to see where they were draining.

‘‘The cavity between the bath and floor was flooded with black mould - it was even behind the vanity and the lino. I had rotten studs and flooring, and there was rot round to my linen cupboard.’’

Liddell’s doctor told her it was likely the mould was making her sick, and she should stay away from the house until it was cleared out.

But even then her health took a steep dive.

The single mum had trouble thinking and walking, and needed her 15-year-old daughter Lizzie to feed her.

‘‘She couldn’t control her hands, they were shaking,’’ Lizzie said.

Sometimes ‘‘her eyes were rolling into the back of her head, you could only see the whites, and she couldn’t speak - I had to call the ambulance about eight times in two weeks.’’

By October her insurance claim was paid but Liddell’s health problems made it difficult for her to try and get the bathroom repaired. She burned through much of the money paying for health bills, medicines, new mattresses and soft furnishings.

Liddell started feeling better in November and was keen to get the bathroom sorted so she and Lizzie could move home.

But they were turned away by a number of social agencies. Then she found Homes for People in Palmerston North.

Founder Darren Birch said he had seen the serious effects of black mould poisoning before and knew Liddell needed help.

‘‘We recognised no-one else was going to ... if we don’t step into a project like this, who’s going to?

He provided materials and organised an army engineering squad to fix the bathroom for free as part of their training.

Liddell will repay Homes for People about $8000 over time for the materials.

Both Homes for People and Liddell have Givealittle pages.

PHOTOS: DAVID UNWIN/STUFF Debbie Liddell felt trapped battling black mould and sickness, until the army helped rebuild her bathroom.

Mould and leaks found in Liddell’s bathroom meant her house was uninhabitable while it was stripped and dried out before being rebuilt.